The iPhone 6 May Be Completely Cord Free, Charge Wirelessly

Apple has apparently started manufacturing parts for the iPhone 5 (or 4s?), which in all likelihood will be available come October. But as curiosity would have it, speculation is already mounting as to what sort of features the next iteration of the iPhone after that will have.

The latest report surfaced by the Wall Street Journal states that “[Apple] has been experimenting with features such as a new way of charging the phone,” so as to provide a clue to an impending overhaul. The version due this fall will reportedly resemble the iPhone 4, but thinner and lighter with an improved 8-megapixel camera (hence the possibility of it being named the 4s). If history does indeed repeat itself, the version following this year’s version should be the recipient of a full-fledged makeover.

Over at 9 to 5 Macthey’ve put two and two together, pointing to an earlier This is my nextreport saying that the iPhone 6, according to sources, will have a slew of new features including “some form of inductive or touch charging,” a sleeker compact body, and a bigger 3.7-inch screen to help rectify a slight dip in pixel density.

A few phones on the market have already been experimenting with inductive charging, which uses electromagnetics to wirelessly charge a device’s batteries, so it wouldn’t be surprising if the feature was more common than not come next year.

At the Worldwide Developers Conference in June, one of iOS 5‘s most promising new features was that it received updates wirelessly, meaning users will not longer have to to connect to a computer and use iTunes to transfer the latest operating system to the phone. Inductive cord-free charging would seem to reiterate Apple’s wireless strategy, as it’d certainly be a crest in Apple’s ardent minimalism.